The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) released a report on Aug. 25 showing the rate at which offenders return to state prisons is continuing to fall. The department’s annual recidivism report, The Outcome Evaluation Report, shows the total three-year return-to-prison rate for all offenders released during fiscal year 2010-2011 is 44.6 percent. This marks a nearly 10 percent decrease from the 54.3 percent recorded last year, according to a department statement.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) announced on Aug. 8 that seven of the state’s prisons had earned accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Corrections, bringing the total number of accredited state prisons in California to 30.

Now that the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors awarded construction contracts in early July for the Northern Branch jail in Santa Maria, final state approval is required before continuing with plans to build the facility.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) regained responsibility for providing medical care at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad in early March. This marks the second state prison that the CDCR regained medical care responsibilities for after a decade of federal control.

In 2012, California Governor Jerry Brown announced a plan, titled “The Future of California Corrections,” that detailed how the state government was going to change the state’s prison system. Not only did the plan meet a court mandate to reduce prison overcrowding, but it said it would help improve criminal sentencing and save billions of dollars.

Oversight of Folsom State Prison’s (FSP) medical services is once again in the hands of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), according to a July 14 statement by the CDCR.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) along with the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges have recently come to an agreement to allow more and more current prisoners the ability to acquire academic certificates, degrees and credits, which will in most cases transfer over to a four-year university atmosphere.

California Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed a bill prohibiting forced or coerced sterilization in all state prisons. The bill, SB 1135, was a response to a 2013 Center for Investigative Reporting report that stated unlawful and coercive sterilization procedures had been performed on female inmates in two state prisons as recently as 2010.